# Gustov's Aftermath in Cuba



## icehog3 (Feb 20, 2005)

Found this on a cigar research site:



> Colin Ganley's site, Cigar Research, has been keeping up with Gustav and
> its aftermath on the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba.
> 
> Colin's Article on Hurricane Gustav:
> ...


Not sure what 1,000 tons represents as a percentage on this year's crop, maybe someone familiar with output can tell us if this is of any significance. I didn't want to just Google it, as I thought someone here might have some first hand knowledge.


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## hoax (Aug 7, 2007)

1000 tons of destroyed raw tobacco, while bad, doesn't sound like a horrible loss. 

Can someone with a kitchen scale go weigh a cigar and see approx how many cigars this translates to?


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## icehog3 (Feb 20, 2005)

hoax said:


> 1000 tons of destroyed raw tobacco, while bad, doesn't sound like a horrible loss.
> 
> Can someone with a kitchen scale go weigh a cigar and see approx how many cigars this translates to?


8?

 :r


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## wij (May 25, 2006)

icehog3 said:


> Not sure what 1,000 tons represents as a percentage on this year's crop, maybe someone familiar with output can tell us if this is of any significance. I didn't want to just Google it, as I thought someone here might have some first hand knowledge.


It's no problem because that 1000 tons will be marketed as double fermented and put into ELs with a Gustov 2nd band.


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## skibumdc (Jun 27, 2007)

icehog3 said:


> 8?
> 
> :r


:tpd:

Well, a 5-pack sent via usps weighs less than 13 ounces, but lets say 10 cigars weighs in @ 1 pound.

1000*2000lbs =2 million pounds divided by 10 cigars = 
200,000 cigars.

Not a terrible loss, but obviously not wanted.
I'm quite sure the tobacco industry has gotten used to issues like this from year to year.


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## mhailey (Dec 28, 2007)

skibumdc said:


> :tpd:
> 
> Well, a 5-pack sent via usps weighs less than 13 ounces, but lets say 10 cigars weighs in @ 1 pound.
> 
> ...


You would not divide by 10, but multiply by 10, because there are 10 cigars in a pound (under your assumptions). Therefore, it would be 20,000,000 cigars.

Matt


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## NCRadioMan (Feb 28, 2005)

wij said:


> It's no problem because that 1000 tons will be marketed as double fermented and put into ELs with a Gustav 2nd band.


That truly would not surprise me, William. :r


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## Mikepd (May 26, 2008)

It all will depend on what the tobacco was to be used as. If that is 1000 tons of wrapper that can be bad, if it was 1000 tons of filler, thats not as bad.


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## Scimmia (Sep 22, 2006)

Mikepd said:


> It all will depend on what the tobacco was to be used as. If that is 1000 tons of wrapper that can be bad, if it was 1000 tons of filler, thats not as bad.


Or, if it was 1000 tons of cigarette tobacco, who care? It doesn't specifically say that it's cigar tobacco, does it? I could be reading it wrong, though.


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## zipa (May 24, 2008)

Well, they can always roll Toscanos out of it..


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## zmancbr (Nov 20, 2007)

Scimmia said:


> Or, if it was 1000 tons of cigarette tobacco, who care? It doesn't specifically say that it's cigar tobacco, does it? I could be reading it wrong, though.


Well it most likely is cigarette tobacco now lol... :r


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## Ashcan Bill (Jul 29, 2006)

1000 tons? We may be on the verge of seeing the very first JLP EL.


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## GoodFella (Nov 3, 2007)

is that 1000 tons WET or DRY?:tu


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## Fumioso (Apr 28, 2006)

mhailey said:


> You would not divide by 10, but multiply by 10, because there are 10 cigars in a pound (under your assumptions). Therefore, it would be 20,000,000 cigars.
> 
> Matt


I like the previous calculation better. I'd like an 11 pound Partagas please.

:ss


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## M1903A1 (Jun 7, 2006)

icehog3 said:


> 8?
> 
> :r


Nubs don't count! 

Calling Pinar...got a real good deal on lots of "miraculously available" Cuban leaf....


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## glassjapan (Feb 15, 2006)

Still, it's kinda depressing that it was 1000 tons of tobacco from the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba. Why couldn't it have been from, say maybe the Vegueros del Guantanamera area instead?


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## andrewsutherland2002 (Feb 16, 2008)

They could sell all of that ruined tobacco to Mexico. There they would be transformed into Te-Amosu


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## Old Sailor (Jul 27, 2006)

Where do ya think they get stuff for cremosa's:r


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## M1903A1 (Jun 7, 2006)

andrewsutherland2002 said:


> They could sell all of that ruined tobacco to Mexico. There they would be transformed into Te-Amosu


Nah-nah-naah...Pinar gets first dibs!


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## demiurgic (Feb 18, 2008)

Another hurricane just hit Cuba's east coast. 
God help those people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7603319.stm


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

Just saw actual clips of Gustov going through Cuba, specifically through Pinar del Rio.
What a sad mess.
Total devastation.
Now they are getting ready to get slammed by Ike.


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## M1903A1 (Jun 7, 2006)

Blueface said:


> Just saw actual clips of Gustov going through Cuba, specifically through Pinar del Rio.
> What a sad mess.
> Total devastation.
> Now they are getting ready to get slammed by Ike.


God help them.


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

Your math is terrible, guys! 

I just weighed a RyJ Churchill with band. It weighs 15 grams that is about half an ounce for you non-metrics. I believe Cuba uses the metric system. So 1000 tons is 1000 000 kg. One kg is of course 1000 grams. You can fit 66 cigars of 15g each into these 1000g. I won't try to calculate for waste but one would have to to be exact. So you get 66 cigars per kilo and you got 1000 000 kilos i.e. you lose 66 million cigars.

According to this link Cuba might today produce just under 200 million cigars per year: http://havanajournal.com/culture/entry/las-tunas-increases-cuban-cigar-production-to-meet-demand/

This means that what was killed only during Gustav was at least a quarter if not a third of a years production. Let's see what Ike brings. So far it doesn't look good. But I must say I honestly worry about the people more than about the cigars and the price increase that will no doubt follow. I also think its pretty sick that the US refused to partially and temporarily lift the embargo so that Cuba can BUY much needed goods. Just something to think about.

Till


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## csbrewfisher (Aug 6, 2008)

From Cigarclopedia:











Los Angeles, September 17 - The Associated Press reported that among the estimated $5 billion in damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike was a significant pounding of western Cuba's tobacco infrastructure.

The Cuban government's first comprehensive report on the impact of the two storms in the primary cigar-tobacco-producing region of Pinar del Rio indicated that although tobacco planting season does not start for more than a month, some 3,400 structures used for farm equipment and tobacco curing barns were partially or totally destroyed.

The government estimated that about 800 tons of tobacco was affected, but not necessarily lost. According to reports from the island after Gustav hit but before Ike reached Cuba, most of the tobacco simply got drenched from the heavy rains and can be dried out and saved in a process that will take several weeks.

That's a lot better than the fate of the 1.2 million-acre sugar cane crop, which was wiped out completely. The report said that the combined impacts of Gustav and Ike were "without a doubt that most devastating" hurricane ever to hit Cuba and added that "building and rehabilitating will mean financial investments and resources truly worth multimillions and will require years of tense work."

Just the government-compiled catalog of the losses suffered on the island took more than 30 minutes to read on the state government's evening newscast. You know the situation is dire when the Cuban government has asked the Bush Administration to lift the U.S. trade embargo for six months to allow it to buy construction materials and for U.S. banks and other financial institutions to provide short-term financing.

I wonder, will the government lift the trade embargo? If so, will it be provisional?


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## D_A (Nov 3, 2007)

Cuban cigar supply said not hurt by hurricanes


By Esteban Israel
HAVANA, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Hurricanes Gustav and Ike destroyed up to 2 million pounds of Cuba's best tobacco, but reserves of the leaf should cover demand for the island's premium cigars for the next year, a tobacco executive said on Wednesday.
The storms, which struck within 10 days of each other, caused major damage to the tobacco industry infrastructure, which will require a significant investment to repair, said Manuel Garcia, vice president of cigar producer Habanos S.A.
"We think that for at least the next year we should not have great difficulties with the supply of cigars because luckily for us, we have a reserve of raw material," he said at a Havana business conference.
"Undoubtedly we are going to need an important financial injection for the tobacco (industry)," he said.
Habanos, a joint venture between the Cuban government and Altadis, a unit of British-based Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), produces and sells some of the world's best-known cigars, including Monte Cristo, Cohiba, Romeo y Julieta and Partagas.
It reported sales of $402 million in 2007, up from $375 million in 2006.
The Cuban government said the two storms destroyed 3,414 barns where the harvested tobacco was being cured and damaged another 1,590 when they ripped through the western province of Pinar del Rio, where Cuba's top tobacco is grown.
Between 1.6 million and 2 million pounds of tobacco were estimated to have been destroyed.
Garcia said the cost of replacing or repairing buildings was being determined and that longer-term effects on tobacco supply would depend on the speed of rebuilding.


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